Hello I am Melissa from northlineexpress.com and I am here on site for a DIY fireplace revamp. It is a complete DIY experience with products from northlineexpress.com. This is a 4 part video series and this is the second video, cleaning and inspecting the fire box. This will be the part of the process that we are going to clean out and check the inside of the fireplace for damage and give it a good thorough cleaning and refreshing.

We started first by removing the ashes from the firebox and the old grate. There were a lot of ashes left behind from the past use of the fireplace and we used the Hearth Country Ash Vacuum to help the cleaning process. We started by first removing the majority of the ash and the large debris from the firebox with an ash bucket and shovel and then came back in with the ash vac to get the rest. The Hearth Country Ash Vacuum made the process much easier to deal with because it kept the dust levels to a minimum. It also has great suction so we were able to get the job done quickly and efficiently!

Once the ashes and the old worn out fireplace grate were removed were able to see what we needed to do. Like I mentioned in the first part of our series this chimney never had a cap so the metal of the firebox had started to rust because of the moisture that came down the chimney over the years. This was fixable and the next thing that we did was start the rust removal process in the firebox so that we could give it a fresh coat of paint. We used steel wool and Stove Bright Paint Prep to prepare the firebox surface for painting. This was a time consuming task as we wanted to make sure that we had as much of the rust and debris off as possible so that we could paint it. The Stove Bright Paint Prep was an amazing product to use for this part of the process and its smelled better than most prep products because it has a citrus scent!

Once all of the rust was removed and the surface was prepped it was time to paint the firebox. We used the Brushable High Temp Stove Bright Paint in Satin Black. This paint was also available in aerosol cans but being that we were working in a small space we decided to use the brush on version of it. We applied the paint and it was obvious right away that this was going to make a dramatic difference. The entire firebox was coated with one thin coat as recommended and it covered extremely. If you did not know that it had been painted you would not know that it was not brand new!

This fireplace remodel is coming along very quickly and very nicely take a look at the before and after of the firebox alone and you will see what just a little work can do. And so far we have used products that are consumer friendly and do not require that you are a professional. This leads us up to the third video in our series where we will literally give this fireplace a facelift! Next we will be cleaning the brick surround and dressing up this hearth with a new mantle and door. Keep watching to see how easy it is to bring an old fireplace from drab to fab with products from northlineexpress.com